Category: Journals

Volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement are encouraged to write personal reflections about the work they engage in with Palestinian communities, the events they experience, and the people they meet. These journals offer the human context often missing in traditional reports or journalism. These articles represent the author’s thoughts and feelings and not necessarily those of the International Solidarity Movement.

En Bil’in de nuevo (In Bil’in again)

A journal entry giving more detail about Friday’s demonstration in Bil’in.

English version follows Spanish

by Maria del Mar, 10 Noviembre

Tengo 61 anos. Soy Espanola. Estuve tambien el ano pasado en Bil’in. Las Fuerzas de Ocupacion Israelies rompieron mi hombro en dos trozos y un tendon, durante la manifestacion pacifica, por nuestro lado, pero no quebrantaron mi confianza en la noviolencia activa que tiene que llevar algun dia a terminar con la ocupacion Israeli, con el muro, con los asentamientos ilegales…………a permitir que todos y todas puedan vivir en paz. Asi pues, gracias a Dios he podido volver y he vuelto. Llevo aqui tres semanas, pero eso es otra historia que espero contar tambien.

Hoy en Bil’in me ha impresionado ver tal cantidad de activistas de paz internacionales de todas las partes del mundo, desde jovenes de 20 anos a adultos de incluso 75, hablando idiomas diferentes, con creencias diversas, pero entendiendonos perfectamente en el idioma de la paz, de la solidaridad, de la determinacion a manifestarnos pacificamente junto a palestinos y activistas israelies que apoyan a los palestinos en sus justas reivindicaciones.

Ibamos coreando consignas contra la ocupacion, contra el muro. Bastantes han intentado y conseguido pasar el muro de alambrada de espinos con cantos que cortan como cuchillas y situarse al lado de los soldados reivindicando el derecho de estar en la tierra robada por el muro a los campesinos Palestinos. Mientras tanto los soldados israelies nos iban castigando con gases lacrimogenos, con bombas de sonido, con balas de goma.

Cuando finalmente ha podido mas el coraje que las armas, muchos activistas han conseguido situarse al lado de los soldados, al otro lado del muro, hablandoles de que la ocupacion tiene que cesar y otros que nos apoyabamos en la baranda mientras que otros, que no hemos podido pasar el muro, tambien les hablabamos desde el otro lado, diciendoles que podian rehusar a seguir siendo complices de su gobierno que podian abandonar el ejercito, que la ocupacion debia cesar, que el muro era ilegal, que no podian estar reprimiendonos, puesto que eramos civiles desarmados y que esto va contra la legislacion internacional.

Al mismo tiempo ibamos levantando nuestras manos desnudas en alto, ibamos repitiendoles que eramos internacionales y nuestros paises de procedencia. Los israelies les hablaban en su propio idioma.

En un momento dado ha sonado una voz de alarma. Un grupo numeroso de soldados israelies tambien fuertemente armado estaban bajando la montana, con la evidente intencion de cortarnos la retirada, de cogernos entre dos fuegos.

Pero ha podido mas la resolucion, y el coraje de los activistas de paz. No nos hemos apartado un milimetro, de nuestras posiciones aun a riesgo de resultar arrestados, heridos o quizas muertos y se han visto en la disyuntiva de dispararnos alguno de sus artefactos, con riesgo de alcanzar a sus propios soldados o buscar a otros activistas que pudieron estar desperdigados. Asi, despues de unos minutos de vacilacion, han ido pasando a nuestras espaldas, formando un angulo recto. Poco despues escuchabamos y oliamos ya a alguna distancia sus gases, sus bombas de sonido, sus balas de goma e incluso su fuego real.

Una vez mas el activismo noviolento, ha ganado una batalla para nosotros importante. Estar juntos Palestinos, Israelies que creen en la paz e internacionales juntos, dando un mensaje a los soldados, al mundo, de que la ocupacion debe cesar, que el muro debe caer, y que los palestinos tienen todo el derecho a vivir en paz y ganarse su pan en su tierra, libres de toda invasion, violencia y “apartheid”.

Somos solo personas solidarias con personas, ante la pasividad de nuestros gobiernos occidentales que miran hacia otro lado mientras aqui se continua matando en Gaza con mayor intensidad, e impunidad, pero tambien en el resto de territorios palestinos ocupados ilegalmente por Israel.

Hagamos correr la voz,. exijamos a nuestros respectivos Gobiernos que no permitan las ilegalidades, tenemos la fuerza de la razon, pero tambien la fuerza de nuestros votos, del boicot contra Israel, el boicot que termino con el “apartheid” en Sudafrica, y de nuestra solidaridad con el pueblo Palestino.

Y despues de lo que he estado observando, creo aun mas que la noviolencia activa puede conseguir lo que el ojo contra ojo no conseguira jamas, la justicia y la paz.

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by Maria del Mar, 10th November

I am a 61 years old Spanish woman. I was last here in Bil’in December 2005. In Bil’in the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) broke my shoulder in two pieces, during the peaceful demonstration. But they could not break my confidence in active non-violence that will lead some day soon, to the end the Israeli occupation, to the fall of the Apartheid Wall and to the end of illegal settlements. It will enable everyone to live in peace in this land. So, luckily, I’ve been able to come back, and have been here for three weeks.

Today in Bil’in I was pleasantly surprised to see such a number of international peace activists from all over the world. There were young people in their twenties and adults up to 75 years old, speaking many different languages. There were different beliefs represented, but we are all able to perfectly understand the language of peace and solidarity. We were determined to hold a peaceful demonstration with Palestinian and Israeli activists to support the Palestinians in their demands for justice. Even the Frenchman Jose wounded last week was there.

We were chanting against the occupation, against the wall. Some activists managed to cross the razor wire barrier and stand right beside the soldiers, thus showing their right to be on the land that the occupation, the settlements and the wall have robbed from the Palestinians who need it for their livelihoods. In the meantime, Israeli soldiers were punishing us with tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber bullets.

When nonviolent courage finally proved stronger than weapons, those activists who had dared to cross the razor wire and stand beside the soldiers, started to tell them that the occupation has to end. The others who weren’t able to cross stood beside another group of soldiers, trying to explain to them that they can refuse to continue in their complicity with their own government and that they can leave the army. They also said that the occupation has to end, that the wall is illegal, that they can not continue attacking us, since we are unarmed civilians, and that in doing so, they are violating international laws.

At the same time, we put our bare hands up, repeating that we are internationals and the countries from which we have come. The Israeli supporters spoke to the soldiers in Hebrew.

Just then, somebody told us that a large group of Israeli soldiers, also heavily armed, were going down the hill behind us. They wanted to cut-off our escape, putting us between a rock and a hard place.

But the courage of peace activists avoided this. We did not move a single millimetre. from our positions, risking arrest, injury or even death. The soldiers had to choose between shooting us, taking the risk of hurting their own soldiers too, or trying to find other activists in elsewhere. So, after a few minutes, they passed behind us in a straight line. Shortly after, we could hear and even smell at some distance their gas, their sound bombs and their rubber bullets.

Despite this, non-violence once more won an important battle. Internationals and Israelis in solidarity with Palestinians gave a message to the soldiers and to the world. The occupation has to stop, the wall must fall and all Palestinians have the right to live in peace, to earn their living on their own land, free from occupation, violence and apartheid.

We are only people in solidarity with other people. We have the awareness that we must do something while our governments are looking away, while here Palestinian blood is shed every day — mainly in Gaza but also in the rest of Israeli occupied Palestine.

Let us spread the word, let us demand that our governments not continue to permit these illegalities. We have the strength of being right, but also the strength of our votes. We can boycott Israel. Such a boycott helped South Africa to finish their apartheid. We have the power of our solidarity with Palestinians and with all peoples that are suffering injustice.

After having lived so many years, I believe more and more, that active non-violence, can achieve what the rule of “eye for eye” will never do: justice and peace for everybody.

The blood of the martyrs will fertilize the earth

by Schlomo Bloom, November 6th


The finished mural, I wonder how long it will remain free of bullet holes?

On and off for the past few weeks I have been working on a mural in Balata refugee camp. The mural is to commemorate the approximately 350 martyrs from Balata since the beginning of the second intifada.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) invade the camp almost every night and terrorize the residents by destroying houses, arresting people, creating explosions and killing people usually between the hours of 12am-4am making it impossible for anyone to sleep.


Destruction of property as a result of the recent invasion by anonymous Balata photographer

There’s not a single family in the camp that doesn’t have at least one tragedy: someone killed, someone in jail for 20 years, someone crippled or disfigured from a gunshot wound. Some families have multiple tragedies.

If Balata was a tourist destination, you’d ask for your money back if there wasn’t an invasion while you were visiting.

I arrived at the end of Ramadan and all the kids were out in the streets playing Jews and Arabs with their brand new toys guns, imitating not what they see on TV, but the reality of their life in the camp.

With the help of camp residents, the wall for the mural was carefully chosen and prepared.

Work on the mural was dependant on the weather and also on the forecast of whether there were invading soldiers or not.

Fi shitta ilyoom? (Is there rain today?)
Fi (There is)

Fi jaysh ilyoom? (Are there soldiers today?)
Fi (There are)

The morning of November 3 I woke up to the sounds of an invasion, an exchange of gun fire on and off from about 2:30am-3:30am. At approximately 3:30am the muezzin announced there was a new martyr. His name was Ibrahim Snakreh and he was 16-years old. He was unarmed and was killed while trying to help his brother Ahmad, aged 19, who had already been shot.

A witness at the scene of the murder reported that Ibrahim heard shouting out in the street, ran outside and saw some of Ahmad’s possessions scattered in the street including his mobile phone which was ringing. Ibrahim picked up the phone in order to bring it to Ahmad, ran a few steps and was shot by a sniper in the back. The bullet emerged through his thigh. He died of his wounds at the hospital. The next day the Israeli media wrote that Ibrahim and Ahmad were terrorists planning a terrorist operation. Witnesses came to the conclusion that it was a random shooting, that snipers were shooting at anything that moved and that they clearly saw that Ibrahim was not armed and was only trying to help his brother.

Ahmad is still in the hospital recovering from his wounds.

There were sounds of explosions on and off for the rest of the night. No one slept much.

I watched Ibrahim’s funeral procession from a roof the next day.

The following three photos were taken at the funeral by an anonymous photographer from Balata:


Ibrahim’s brother kisses him goodbye


A friend says goodbye


Funeral procession

As I was finishing the mural, I photographed some young kids as they put up the new martyr posters of Ibrahim. I recognized him in the photo as one of the kids who was watching me paint the day before. He had asked me if I’d seen someone, I said no I hadn’t, and then he left. Now he’s dead.

A taxi driver took me from Balata to Huwara checkpoint and told me he had seen me painting the mural. He opened the glove compartment of the car and pulled out 6 photos of 6 different men. “Kullu shuhada,” he said, meaning ‘all martyrs’. I asked if they were his friends, he said one was his brother and the rest were his friends.

Tel Rumeida Diary: The Israeli Idea of “Quiet”

by Mary, October 14th

A young soldier told me that he didn’t care what anyone thought of him. He did not want peace, just quiet. He wanted quiet! And quiet he has, I suppose. He has no need to arrest anyone or shoot anyone. And that is the best a young conscript can hope for! Unfortunately his quiet is not good for everyone.

What the Israeli army calls “quiet” here means pandering to Israeli settlers, mostly by ignoring attacks on Palestinians and internationals and Israeli human rights workers (HRWs) by Israeli settler boys, who are too young to be arrested. On the evening of Friday September 29th, Baruch Marzel’s son and two other boys were hanging about outside our house and one of them threw muck at me. It was all over the back of clothes and in my hair. Soldiers were there but did nothing. The police came and said I could make a complaint but they could do nothing. The boys were too young! If it had been Palestinian children, they would not be considered too young. There are more than 700 Palestinian children in Israeli prisons. Next day Baruch asked what I thought about the children. I replied that I didn’t know what he meant. Then he said “Shabbat Shalom”. It definitely wasn’t an apology but it was better than the usual “Nazi” or “Anti-semetic”. So I replied “Shabbat Shalom”.

There have been constant attacks on the families living near the Tel Rumeida settlement.
The El Azzeh families had rocks thrown at their house for three hours the other evening. This happens a lot. There is a new young family in a house that had been empty. They have two toddler children and the rock throwing is a great worry for them. So there are now four families alongside the settlement. All have children. In the last month, Tel Rumeida settler children have cut the water pipe to these houses three times. The work was supervised by a woman, who came from the Gaza colonies a year ago. She has been trespassing on and trying to steal El Azzeh land ever since.

In July 2005, there was an Israeli court order that the El Azzeh families were allowed to use part of their land as a pathway, parallel to the street so that they could lead their house (for three years previously, these families were not allowed out of their houses, 2 hrs every two weeks curfew). Which the settlers have taken over. In December 2005, the Israeli army put razor wire across the entrance to the path. Until June 2006, the children were allowed to pass that way. If they couldn’t open the wire, most soldiers would help them. The children were constantly harassed by the settler woman from the late Gaza colonies. She would tell the soldiers that the children were not allowed pass. And, if that was not effective, she would physically block their way – standing over them and abusing them. Human rights workers were always there to help the children when the children came from and went to school. However, during the summer, while I was in Australia, Tel Rumeida settlers and some soldiers put a lot of razor wire at the end of the track near the El Azzeh houses. Now the families cannot pass at all. The only other way, is a very rough track through other people’s back yards. The ground is rocky and there are many rough steps as well as a ladder to climb. Two weeks ago, 6 year old Ahmad fell on rocky ground and injured his head, which is still covered in sticking plaster. The track has been tidied at the road end near us. It looks quiet and even peaceful! But this is misleading.

The Abu Aeshah family live directly opposite the Tel Rumeida settlement. On September 30th at 5.00pm, Abu Samir, Samir, Rafa and Mohammad Abu Aeshah were returning to their house opposite the Tel Rumeida settlement. Two settler boys came out and threw rocks at them. An Israeli army officer had told me that his soldiers are positioned to help in case of a settler attack against this family. This does not appear to be the case. No soldiers came. It was less than a week since the Abu Aeshah family was attacked in this way. The officer’s assurance does not seem to be worth much. Earlier on the same day, two HRWs were at the crossroads looking towards the Tel Rumeida settlement. Three settler boys, aged about ten, were throwing rocks towards a Palestinian house nearby. The HRWs called to the soldiers at the crossroad to come. One of the soldiers yelled at the boys until they stopped. Later, the same boys came out of the settlement with other girls and boys. They moved down the road towards the crossroad. Three boys went into the entryway of the Palestinian house and threw rocks at the front door. Others threw rocks down the road towards the soldiers who were responding to the HRWs call. Both soldiers sent the settler children back to the settlement. This is quiet?

All Palestinian government workers have not been paid since the end of February. Finally, after 7 months of working without pay, they are on strike. The money exists to pay them. Israel is collecting tax for Palestine but will not hand it over. They say that this is because the Palestinians elected Hamas, which the USA and Israel say is terrorist organization. But it was a democratic election with over a thousand registered international observers, who found it to be exemplary. So much for the USA wanting democracy in the Middle East! The Palestinians were tired of corrupt government, which gave the people nothing and obtained not even basic humanitarian rights from Israel. If Israel wanted a different government, some concessions – such as releasing 700 children, many of whom have not been charged with an offense, from Israeli prisons – would have made enough difference to swing the election. So now, there is no school, no nurses, doctors or workers in hospitals (except for emergencies), no garbage collectors etc. Even though the government in Hebron is not controlled by Hamas, the restrictions are here too. Israel holds the tax money of these people and collective punishment is the order of the day. One of the most shocking things for me is that my Australian government says that this is somehow helping Israel protect itself. Probably the reverse is true. It is not healthy for any nation to behave so callously, while demanding that their youth (Israeli army conscripts) be the ones to defend their cruel stance.

October 7th-14th (Succot week)

It is the Jewish holiday of Succot. Settlers have strung banners on Palestinian houses and flags and banners in the street. No permission was asked of Palestinians, but all is quiet. But the lack of consideration by and arrogance of the settlers and the acquiescence of the Israeli army is sickening. There were no problems on Shabbat (Saturday). On Sunday, the checkpoint for those leaving Tel Rumeida (checkpoint 56) was closed at 1.30pm. No notice was given. Soldiers forced the closure of shops in H1 (which is supposed to be controlled by the Palestinian Authority, under the Hebron accords) and invaded further into the Palestinian controlled area. Then the checkpoint was intermittently opened and closed until 3.30pm. Israeli settlers arrived at about 3.10pm and purposefully blocked the way of Palestinians using the checkpoint. At 3.30pm the checkpoint was closed – until 7pm, we were told. The settlers escorted by soldiers and police were allowed through the checkpoint and taken into a Palestinian house in H1. The aim was to visit the “Cave of Otniel Ben-Knaz”. This constituted not only trespass in a Palestinian home but an invasion by Israeli settlers and soldiers into H1.

Palestinians were beginning to gather at the checkpoint. It is Ramadan, which means fasting in daylight hours for Muslims. Palestinians need to finish their shoping before about 4.30pm and break their fast at about 5.45pm. The police and army officers present at the checkpoint made telephone calls. The settlers and soldiers returned. Several stones were thrown at the H1 side of the checkpoint. Not so quiet! Soldiers went rushing back again with guns ready. There was some tear gas. Then all was quiet again. The checkpoint was open again by 4.15pm.

On Monday the 9th, we were inundated with over a thousand tourists – religious Israeli Jews. They were walking all over the area, but thankfully there were no problems. A Palestinian told me that they were from Tel Aviv and other places in Israel. They were not settlers. On Tuesday and Wednesday, there was many bus loads of tourists. The buses park right in front of Palestinian doorways even though Palestinians and internationals are sitting there. This seems extremely rude as there are other places to park. Soldiers order the Palestinians to go inside their houses to make room for tourists to get off the bus. This international refuses to move! Most of the tourists themselves are no trouble. There are a few groups of young men, dressed the garb of religious Jews (black hat or kippur and trousers with a white shirt) who often act unpleasantly. On Tuesday, a group of about 12 crowded round me as I sat on a wall outside a Palestinian house. Two of them trod on my feet several times and tried to say that I was tripping them.

This is the “quiet” of the Israeli army. The settlers, no matter how badly they behave or how unreasonable their demands, are always put first. The Palestinians, no matter how conciliatory they are, always come last.

Israeli Holidays Impede Palestinian Freedom of Movement

by Tom Hayes, October 11th

I visited the village of Bil’in, close to Ramallah, on Saturday. The villagers had asked for an international presence in the village after the IOF had arrested Emad, a Palestinian cameraman who works for Reuters on Friday after the weekly demonstration against the Apartheid Wall, which will separate the villagers from a majority of their agricultural land.

A new IOF commander has taken over responsibility for the area and has threatened to renew raids on the village to arrest villagers involved in the weekly demonstrations. Previously the IOF have arrested known protesters and village youths and demanded large sums of money for their release.

We walked through the fields towards the Apartheid Wall to reach the village’s outpost on the isolated part of their land beyond the wall. Villagers keep a permanent presence at the outpost to reassert their right to access their land. We walked through the gate in the barrier (which in Bil’in consists of two fences and a security road surrounded by large rolls of razor wire) and asked the IOF soldiers to be let through onto the isolated land on the Western side of the barrier. The soldiers told us that we could come through but that Palestinans could not come through to their land during the Jewish holiday. We asked why we were treated differently and were told ‘because you are tourists…’.

As we were let through the gate the soldier told us ‘this is not Auschwitz…’. Who was he trying to convince?

We visited a villager from Bil’in who was staying at the outpost, close to several illegal Israeli Jewish-only settlements. He told us he was unable to go back to the village because he would to be allowed back to his agricultural land if he left it. He was not willing to leave the land to the settlers and the army so he planned to stay there until access to the lands beyond the wall was permitted again.

The people of Bil’in are continuing their resistance to the annexation of their land and need more international support over the coming weeks. The villagers expect disruption to access to their land throughout the Jewish holiday. Similarly, in Tel Rumeida, access to the Ibrahimi Mosque, and freedom of movement for Palestinians has been impeded to allow for hundreds of Israel visitors.

On Saturday in Tel Rumeida hundreds of Israeli visitors were allowed to march into the Palestinian controlled area. Palestinians were cleared out of the way by soldiers shooting sound bombs and tear gas.

The restrictions on movement over the holiday period are a further example of the apartheid system operated by the IOF, similar restrictions were put on Palestinians during the Passover period this year.

The Small Battles

by Daniela, Tuesday 26th September

This weekend I attended a small rally in Tulkarem, where Palestinian NGOs were calling for a boycott of Israeli goods. Although the group was small, they were organized and seemed intent to follow through with this goal. On our way back to Ramallah, our taxi slowed to a stop. A line of ten cars was ahead of us, waiting at the checkpoint.

When our time came to pull up beside the soldiers we all passed our IDs to the driver. The three soldiers glanced at the IDs and began to walk around the car, inspecting the passengers. We opened the door and they instructed my friend to step out and speak with them. He walked over to their station, lifted his shirt upon request, and turned in a circle to prove that he was not carrying a weapon. He said nothing. (One day later, I would watch this same guy as he furiously chanted in front of a group of soldiers, “Hey Israel what do you say, how many kids did you kill today?”)

The three soldiers spoke to him for a short time, and then asked the driver to pull over to the side and wait while they called in my friend’s ID. “It will only take five minutes,” they said, and went back to chatting. One soldier appeared bored with this game, and blithely urged his friend to just let us pass, but he refused.

Five minutes turned into fifteen, and the car’s passengers began to get restless. After my friend’s failed attempt to reason with the soldiers, I decided to get out, and use any pull that I might have as a U.S. citizen to get back the ID.

“What do you want,” called out one soldier as I approached them.

“Listen, I’m not sure what the problem is, but we’re really in a hurry,” I said, trying to sound casual and degrading at the same time.

“What’s your hurry, do you have to catch a plane back to the U.S. or something?” one of the younger ones joked.

“No, but there are people in that car that have things to do with their day. They have to get to work, they have to meet people in Ramallah, they have lives to get back to.”

“This will only take a few minutes, we have to check your friend’s ID.”

“Why,” I asked.

“I don’t know,” said another one.

“You don’t know, but you’re making us wait here for 20 minutes?”

“Well, he could be a suspect,” he responded authoritatively.

“He could be a suspect? That’s it?” I said, trying to be careful with my words. “Listen, can you just give me his ID and let us go. We really need to get to Ramallah.”

They looked me up and down, and then hesitantly handed me the green ID. I snatched it up and walked back to the car.

When I was only a few steps away, the youngest of the soldiers called back to me, “Don’t hate us sweetie,” in a tone of condescension that I had not been subjected to in a while.

I turned around, prepared to say everything that I thought this kid needed to hear, everything that I hadn’t spoken out loud since I arrived in Palestine. But I looked down at the ID in my hand, wondered what might happen to my fellow travelers if I talked back to the soldiers, thought about the four more checkpoints we would have to go through that day, and remembered that this wasn’t my fight.

Recently I have been working on a report for ADDAMEER (Arabic for conscience, a prisoner support and human rights association) on Palestinian child detainees, and the various military regulations that apply to their interrogation, trial, and detention. Advocacy agencies will often make the point that most Israeli military regulations consistently violate international laws. For example, Palestinian children are tried as adults when they reach the age of 16 and will be placed in adult prisons. They are denied the right to education, the right to congregate in prayer, and are subjected to both physical and psychological abuse on a daily basis. But what do all of these small arguments matter when they are merely tiny details in a much larger injustice?

I was interviewing an Israeli lawyer the other day on the differences in treatment between Israeli children and Palestinian children. He mentioned that Israeli children who are convicted are often sent to rehabilitation centers, and not to juvenile prisons. When I pointed out that this option has not been provided to Palestinian children he scoffed at the idea. “The help [a Palestinian child prisoner] might need is not the help that Israeli occupying system would be able or ready to supply,” he said. “What will be the rehabilitation? Education to Zionism? Or will Palestinian social workers, who identify with the Palestinian cause (and may be potential
prisoners themselves) be let inside to help the children?”

It is rare that I will see a lawyer make the argument at trial that this system, as a whole, is illegal. It is rare even to hear someone bring up international law in the proceedings. With the exception of administrative detention cases, or cases of torture, international standards have no place in these military courts. More often than not, there will be a plea bargain, and if they’re lucky they will get their client’s sentence down a few months. As no one is listening to the big arguments, they have to make these small arguments day in and day out: This child has never been arrested, so his sentence for throwing rocks should be reduced…This man has a family to take care of, so may he pay a fine for belonging to the PFLP party instead of serving time?

Last week, I was able to attend the appeal hearing for the members of the Palestinian Parliament that have been held in Israeli jails since June. A few days before, a military judge had ordered the release of these detainees, on bail, for the duration of the trial, but this was delayed in order to give the prosecutor time to appeal. Five minutes into the trial my translator had to abandon me, so I stood silently and did my best to pick up a few words.

All of the hearings are conducted in Hebrew, but a soldier will stand at the back of the room and translate in Arabic. Most of the time his words will be mumbled, so it’s nearly impossible for the detainee’s families to understand what is happening. The defense attorney went on at length, speaking for nearly half an hour straight. The court was definitely standing room only that day, as all of the seats were occupied by reporters. I wondered if the judge would have allowed the defense attorney to continue for this long if members of the media weren’t watching him like hawks. The members of the legislative council sat quietly, occasionally mumbling something to their lawyers and laughing. I had seen the faces of all of these men on posters plastered up around Ramallah. In their pictures, they looked dignified in their suits and ties, resembling every politician I have ever seen. Now, even in their brown jumpsuits and shackles, they still seemed determined to look stately.

The defense attorney was still presenting his case, and all I could think was, how could he possibly have that much to say? What more is there to say than, “This is completely illegal. You can’t arrest someone for being a democratically elected official.” Done. Case closed. But things do not work that way around here.

There have been moments in the history of this occupation when defense lawyers have decided to boycott the trials altogether. They will make a statement that they cannot participate in this instrument of the occupation. The organization I’m currently working with has often called for such boycotts, but will never follow through with them without the full support of the prisoners. After all, it is they who will bear the brunt. I was speaking to a good friend the other day about his time in prison. He said that these boycotts had occurred during his time, but it was always damaging to the prisoners. If a group of lawyers made a public statement about the illegality of the Israeli Military Courts, any prisoner associated with them would undoubtedly be sentenced to double the amount of time. This is a risk most lawyers are not willing to take, nor should they—unless their client is ready to take that risk with them.

So I sit back each day and watch the small battles being fought, but not often won. I’m still trying to figure out my role in all of this, but for now I’m satisfied in getting the stories of those I meet out to all of you. So here are the words of one client of ADDAMEER who is currently being held under administrative detention. This means that he is held without charges or trial, and his attorney is not permitted to see the secret file against him. Technically he may only be held like this for six months, but most administrative detainees have their sentences renewed indefinitely. His name is Yahir, and he is 18 years old:

“During the last 10 days of my Detention Order, I start to think about the outside world. About my family and friends, how things are outside, what all my friends are doing, how they are spending their time. When my Detention Order is renewed, I feel shattered. I am depressed and frustrated because in my mind the renewal means nofamily, no friends, no knowledge of the outside world.

“On the day of renewal, the prison authorities move 26 prisoners all together and put us in 3 cells. We leave our section at 8:30 in the morning and have to wait until the end of the day, when all the 26 prisoners have finished, before we are returned to our section.

“During the renewal hearings, I sit and wish I would hear the word ‘release’ and I wait for the judge to say ‘sha’rur’ (release). I don’t understand what the translator says as he speaks too quickly and sometimes I have to ask him to repeat.

“On the last hearing, when my detention was renewed, I told the judge that I am only 18 and that there is nothing against me and that I have never been in prison. I wanted to know what the secret file against me has in it. I told him I was from Qalqilya, which is literally a prison anyway due to the wall. I asked him to release me. My request was refused.

“The life of the Administrative Detainee is all about waiting. We don’t know when we will go home. When our detention order is about to end, all our thinking goes to the outside world. We daydream about our family and friends and what we will do when we are released.

“I have seen Detainees receive a renewal of their detention on the day they are supposed to be released, and they go mad. One Detainee, Nimmer Nazal in my section gave all his prison belongings away on the morning he was to be released. He was given a renewal on that day and he lost his temper.

“Then in the evening he had to ask to get all his belongings back again…”